BBC World News - "Senator thank you for being with us today on such a short notice. You ran the risk of being wounded or incarcerated by the Iraqi police for 'supporting terrorists' in the Iraqi province of Diyala. Could you please tell us what happened?"

Io - "Thank you for having me. The reason for our trip to northern Iraq was to visit Camp Ashraf, home to over 3000 member of the organization of the People's Mojahedin of Iran. We had received news that the Iraq army was threatening to attack right after the U.S. would have pulled out of the province. We decided to go right on that date and, in fact, without notice, we were attacked on our second day at the camp. We remained incommunicado for almost 24 hours - apparently they cut out the camp from all types of communication. Also our phone did not work.

BBC - "But why? Didn't' they know that a delegation of Italian politicians was inside the camp?"

Io - "We did not informed them directly, but to get into the camp one has to clear security, and part of it is managed by the Iraqis. It is clear that Baghdad does not care for the life of the inhabitants of the camp, and the reason for this must be found in Teheran. The PMOI has been one of the major adversaries of the Iranian, and it is not a secret how Iran deal with its opponents. They have become incredibly powerful in Iraq, so powerful that they can giver orders to the army!"

BBC - "Could you tell us what happened?"

Io - "Last Monday, at the crack of down, we heard loudspeakers intimating to leave the camp at once or suffer the consequences. A delegation of the leadership reached the gate to pretend an explanation, but they were greeted by a round of salvo. They retreated immediately and the shelling began. None of the residents of the camp is armed, so our only defense was to hide in the cellars to avoid the bombing. Four people got killed, they were fired directly by some snipers that had moved in. When the bombing and shooting finally ended last night, almost 40 had been injured. Before leaving were were told that two more died at the hospital.

BBC - "What brought the attack to an end?"

Io - "The camp is also guarded by a very small contingent of the United States, who apparently had been called to manage some problems in the nearby city of Tikrit. Whatever the reason, they were not present on that day, otherwise the attack would not have been possible. Once the Americans were back, actually a handful of them, the Iraqi army withdrew.What happened is extremely serious, a deliberate attack on civilians on political grounds in a place where the international community is present and involved. Camp Ashraf has been recognized as a refugee camp by the UN, but nobody is providing security, and the host country is actually attacking a group of people who it should protect!"

BBC - "What do you intend to do now?"

Io - "Ours was not an official visit, but I am preparing a series of questions for the Italian Government and the European and international institutions that are present in Iraq. It is not possible to abandon thousands of people, in the middle of nowhere, at the mercy of a government that has the explicit goal of getting rid of them all in any possible way! I would encourage you to air some of the images or footing we took with our phones the other day, they will clearly show you how it went. But even more important and interesting it would be interesting to investigate WHY it happened. Baghdad says that the mojahedin are terrorists, while, one could say that the opposite is true. According to the Iraq government we deserved that treatment because we were a bunch of terrorists...

BBC - "One last question, would you go back?"

Io - "I'm not sure there will be a Camp Ashraf in the future. In addition to alerting the Italian government and European institutions, who both fund the Iraqi government, and the Americans, who should guard the camp in a more efficient way, I intend to meet the Iraq Ambassador here in Rome to formally ask an explanation for what has happened. Next time I go to Ashraf or anywhere else in Iraq, it will be on an official visit with other national MPs and MEPs to find a solution for the mojahedin that still live there and who, by the way, mean no harm to Iraq.

BBC - "Thank you Senator, we will continue following the developments in Iraq. The best of luck for your work"